On February 5, 1877 Joseph Halsey of Orange County, Virginia received a letter from a man who had uncovered the preserved remains of an American Indian. The letter began with a sense of excitement and awe. The author recounted, I plowed up an Indian chief, with all of his ornaments, blanket, girdle of beads, turban, and shells. His hair was in a state of preservation having the appearance of fine...
On February 5, 1877 Joseph Halsey of Orange County, Virginia received a letter from a man who had uncovered the preserved remains of an American Indian. The letter began with a sense of excitement and awe. The author recounted, I plowed up an Indian chief, with all of his ornaments, blanket, girdle of beads, turban, and shells. His hair was in a state of preservation having the appearance of...
On December 29, 1876, D.F.M. Chandler sat down in Ruckdale, Texas to write a letter to Mrs. Roberts, a dear friend. These two had been in written contact with each other previous to this letter, and Chandler apologized for the lapse of time before his responding. Ruckdale, he said, had been hit with a raging case of the measles. This case of the measles terribly afflicted the community; Chandler's...
On December 29, 1876 Mr. J. E. Burchell was traveling on the Pacific Express train headed toward Chicago during a heavy snow storm. As the first engine, "Socrates" crossed the two hundred foot bridge, the iron trusses broke, causing the bridge to collapse. His eye-witness account describes the accident as the second engine and eleven cars were tipped into the creek seventy feet below and the wood...
The Mississippi Grange Party assembled in Jackson on Dec. 12th. The party began in 1867 by several farmers as a “farmer's movement,' that worked to affiliate local planters into areas called “granges,' where they would work together for political and economic advantages. The party was at the height of its power during the 1870's and won a huge political victory in Oct....
The period of Reconstruction that followed the Civil War saw a fluctuation of freedoms for African Americans in the former Confederate South. The newspapers of the time, like the Raleigh Register, were critical of the roles of African Americans in society, and used offensive language when describing the people of that race. While slavery no longer existed, Reconstruction proved to be...
On November 3, 1876 Rutherford B. Hayes wrote a letter to General M.F. Force. As the November 7th presidential election loomed, Hayes wrote with a melancholy tone about his prospect for victory. In the letter he tells General Force that he will find a variety of things to console him in the event of his defeat, and that there is nothing he would go back and change about his campaign if he could....
The Republican Party was on the defensive for the 1876 gubernatorial election in North Carolina with the issues of reconstruction, Black domination, and white supremacy dominating the campaign. Meanwhile, the state's conservative party adopted the name, “democratic,' so they could cooperate with the national party. The North Carolina conservative-democrats nominated Zebulon B. Vance,...
The United States presidential election of 1876 was likely the most disputed in the country's history. Democrat Samuel Tilden clearly defeated Republican challenger Rutherford B. Hayes in the popular vote and Tilden was declared the winner by many prognosticators. <br />The Charleston News and Courier claimed “of Governor Tilden's election, we are still assured,' on Thursday,...
The Republicans nominated former U.S. Marshall Stephen Packard for governor during the 1876 gubernatorial race in Louisiana. The Louisiana Democrats chose Francis T. Nicholls, a confederate war hero, as their candidate and began immediate efforts for a victorious election. In counties they were certain to win, Democrats did all they could to hold down the Black vote through intimidation and in...